First released in 1961, the Model 597 by Italian virtuoso Gianfranco Frattini is the lamp that launched him as a lighting designer. Short and cylindrical in shape, the Model 597 is fitted with multiple bulbs and quirky fringes that disguise its functional versatility. Its unique and playful form perfectly encapsulates Frattini’s extraordinary approach to the aesthetics of light.

Model 597’s unique nylon fringes were inspired by both the world of fashion and the fringed entrance curtains commonly found in Italy’s bars and grocery stores in the late 1950s. They are affixed to a diabolo-shaped aluminum base, which is fitted with six lateral bulbs around the central core, with an additional bulb housed in a cavity on top, directing light upwards. This creates a 360 º light that floods out evenly between the fringes, as well as an uplight – enhanced by the reflection in the polished-aluminum surface – which can be individually controlled with a dual-button switch.